San Francisco holidays hit a home run when it comes to big-name attractions. The Golden Gate Bridge's rust-red arches and movie-famous Alcatraz Island are just the tip of the iceberg.
Views for days
San Francisco dominates a seven-mile-by-seven-mile peninsula in the USA’s northern California, with the Pacific Ocean on one shoreline and the San Francisco Bay on the other. Bundled in between them both is a smorgasbord of 43 peaks, many of which serve up eye-widening views of the coast. The tallest of the lot’s Mount Davidson, standing at 928 feet tall. From up here, you can peek at a bunch of the city’s major players, including the Golden Gate Bridge and the Financial District’s Manhattan-inspired skyline.
Flick through history
San Francisco got its big break in 1849, when miners from all over the US set up shop here during the Gold Rush. This heritage is a huge part of the city’s culture – its American football team’s even called the 49ers, after the hordes of 19th-century prospectors. Some of San Francisco’s saloons date back to this time, too, while Prohibition-era speakeasies are a dime a dozen. The city’s top dog, though, is Alcatraz Island – home to the infamous prison-turned-protected-landmark. Here, you can see how legendary criminals like Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly were locked up behind bars before it closed in 1963.